End of Summer 2014

Wow does time continue to fly. The summer was great but gone in a blink.

Through a screen and a bit blurry but this goldfinch is a good memory of summer before the snow hits soon enough.

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Megan’s hard work earlier this year is paying off! They taste so good straight from the garden.

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Beth is feeling bad that she hasn’t aged nearly as well as I have…sore topic for her…don’t bring it up.

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Our annual trek to Grand Marais. Gooseberry Falls is one of our first stops – can’t break that routine. We skipped Betty’s Pies this year and ended up paying $25 for a pie in Grand Marais. It was good…but not…well, maybe it was.

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I keep picturing a scene from Fantasia with Mickey commanding the water to rise and splash. Christopher the powerful sorcerer making the water rise up and obey him!

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Colleen kept saying how comfortable this was and that we should try it. Uh…no.

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Love that view off of our balcony. I think I like the weather better on days when it is overcast and a bit dreary…great memories of similar days in New England.

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Artist’s Point. Here comes the water…

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Splash!

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Check out the flags blowing straight out…a very windy day in a very cold lake. I wonder how come no one else was playing in Lake Superior. Hmmm…could it be common sense?

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1..2..3..

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Ahhhhhhhh!!!!!

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Did I just do what I think I did? Or is that hypothermia setting in?

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Love it! Sisters having fun and bonding – memories for a lifetime.

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While his crazy sisters were dunking themselves he was filling the lake up with rocks. For as many rocks as we throw it is amazing that the lake is still there. Megan learned to skip rocks this year…and the science behind it has me baffled. She throws them slow…and I’m not sure that they spin…and the angle is all funny…but somehow she consistently gets several skips.

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Momma’s favorite waterfalls (so…is it really one waterfall or should it be one waterfalls?). We waved at some Canadians on the other side of this river that borders the countries.

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My girls.

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A beach with awesome rocks behind Nani-nani-boo-boo lodge.

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Crabs? Sharks? Alligators? Watch those toes Christopher!

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We were on the path to faith and joy – exactly what I was looking for on this journey.

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You know how you press the timer button on the camera and then have that panicked run to join the family as fast as you can for the picture? I knew the rocks that I would be sprinting across were wet…but I had no idea how slippery they were. Almost lost it for the sake of this picture but I recovered and still managed to get a smile in.

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Judge C. R. Magney State Park – one of our favorites.

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Peeking out to see the Devil’s Kettle. We met two guys who had to be at least in their 80’s if not older out there hiking. Incredible to see them walking that far and then up and down 200+ steps.

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Getting up for another sunrise. I really liked this single cloud that was also waiting to see the first rays of sunlight.

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What shape is the sun in your world?

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I’m no bird expert but if your beak is pointing in two different directions then I think you are pretty much screwed. This bird would let you come right up to him – maybe hoping someone would pop his beak back into place – I wasn’t going to be the one to attempt that.

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Last shadows before the sun rose even further.

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One of the fishing boats was leaving the fish market right after dawn. The noise was incredible – every single bird was shrieking and diving and circling. They followed this boat all the way out to sea (lake) until I couldn’t see the boat any more. I loved watching that.

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Scorpion at Artist’s Point

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Angry Trout – one of our favorites – yummy! Their chowder is out of this world. Megan and I can’t get enough of it!

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Whoa – what’s going on there.

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Quack, quack.

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Here’s my Hulk moment. Sometimes I have to let that rage out!!!

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Dude – that moon was incredible. We saw it the night before and dragged the kids out in their pajamas to see it…but by the time we got outside it was hidden behind clouds. But the next night it came back in full force. Wow. Amazing.

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Diving in.

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Chris

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Here’s that annual picture – they haven’t changed a bit.

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We spent the night in Duluth on our way back home. The Canal Park area is great – fun location, restaurants, shopping, etc. We ate chocolate, and got smoked fish and meat, and got great coffee, and even rented a 5-person bike to tour the area. Don’t ask how, but it took all of us half of our trip to realize that Beth’s steering wheel didn’t actually do anything. And once we figured that out she still couldn’t stop trying to steer the bike – heh heh – fun times!

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Couldn’t resist taking a picture of this sign…hee hee…

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Megan spent some of her $$$ from grandma and grandpa on a balloon animal making kit…here’s one she made 100% on her own the next day! It was a great trip and hopefully some of you can join us in a future year. It’s a great, relaxing, cheap, low-key vacation in a beautiful area of the country.

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3 Responses to “End of Summer 2014”

  1. Brooks Thompson says:

    Wow, what a great vacation! A fun way to end summer and just relax and have quality family time. I don’t think I could climb all the places you all climbed. The sunsets are amazing. You do a great job taking photos, David. We just love reading your blog! Love, Mom

  2. Dave T says:

    You beat dad (or should I say, “crabby ol’ bill”) 🙂 Heh heh

  3. Dad & Grandpa T says:

    Funny, Crabby ‘ol Bill is probably what mom calls me most of the time. Guess there’s more than one.

    For so many reasons, it’s too bad we all didn’t make it to Grand Marais like we planned. Seems so long ago that we were talking about a family get together there. Looks like so much fun, but by the looks on the faces it looks like that Lake Superior water is as cold as ever.

    I can sort of relate to that double beaked sea gull. The latest effect of HFM I’m experiencing is my finder nails are coming off. I never realized how much finger nails come in handy until mine got sensitive and started coming off. Must be how that bird feels. It sure is awkward trying to do things with my fingers sometimes. Not sure how you could have popped its beak back in place, but I’m sure it would have given you quite a fight.

    I enjoyed all the pics. The one of the Duluth lift bridge brought back lots of memories as mom and I spent many summer days and evenings there.

    Hard to believe that summer is over and it is now officially autumn. So glad we were able to rendezvous in D.C. this summer.

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